When it comes to staff safety, personnel who are tasked to enter HV substations to carry out specific duties are in the main, fully trained to recognise the dangers associated with high voltage power equipment.

Even so, high voltage substations are still seen as major potential accident areas where rapid intervention can determine whether your engineer will survive the accident.

In such an incident, loss of life or serious injuries can be reduced by having immediate access to the correct equipment to enable rapid and safe assistance has been proven successful and this wall mounted kit, developed by Reece Safety Products has been designed to be located inside an electrical substation for just such an event.

Housed in a robust 800mm x 300mm x 600mm IP66 Fibox Polycarbonate ARCA enclosure, the rescuer has immediate access to Insulating gloves and boots as personal protection, combined with an insulating platform and insulated rescue hook to drag the unfortunate victim away from the live feed; the Reece Substation Rescue Kit allows the rescuer to take rapid and lifesaving actions without risk to themselves.

A 5-36kV voltage detector on an insulated pole is also included to check for a safe condition before endangering the life of the rescuer.

In the event of a more complex situation, the kits are supplied with insulated cable cutters to break the power line if still unable to remove the victim from the live feed.

These kits are growing in popularity in conventional applications in power generation as well as large industrial operations with on-site sub stations. The Oil and Gas Industry is an increasingly large user for this equipment along with growing numbers going into car dealerships for an ultimate rescue kit to prevail over the dangers arising from electric hybrid vehicle servicing and maintenance whereby direct current voltages in excess of 55 Volts can cause severe muscular contractions to prevent the victims letting go.

Commenting on the use of an ARCA ‘electrical’ enclosure for what could be considered by purists as an unorthodox electrical installation, Steve Gallon, MD of Fibox in the UK said, “This is another classic example of a forward thinking company like Reece, recognising the flexibility and long term benefits of installing their safety critical kits in injection moulded products in areas where traditional sheet steel and GRP enclosures would corrode in time, and would have a detrimental effect on the efficacy and important aesthetics of their Substation Recue Kits.”

Fibox also point out the successful installation of many other projects, which as well as the conventional functions like housing switchgear for use in the water and waste industry, telemetry housings for CCTV installations and for housing very sensitive electronic equipment for controlling batch feeding in the agricultural industry. Have also included such a diverse application as to be specified as the ideal product to house fire extinguishers on the decks of boats.